The Treaty of Seringapatam (also called Srirangapatinam or Srirangapatna), signed 18 March 1792, ended the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Angl ...
. Its signatories included
Lord Cornwallis on behalf of the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, representatives of the
Nizam of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
and the
Maratha Empire, and
Tipu Sultan, the ruler of
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
.
Background
The war broke out in late 1789 when
Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the
Kingdom of Mysore, attacked
Travancore, an ally of the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. After a little over two years of fighting, forces of the company led by
Lord Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis, along with allied forces from the
Maratha Empire and
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...
,
laid siege in February 1792 to Mysore's capital,
Seringapatam
Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...
(also called Srirangapatinam). Rather than attempting to storm the works at great cost to all sides, Cornwallis entered into negotiations with Tipu to end the conflict. The resulting treaty was signed on 18 March.
Cornwallis had hoped to use the treaty as a wide-ranging peace settlement that would, in addition to reducing or removing the threat of Mysore, prevent conflict between Hyderabad and the Marathas. The Marathas had, however, resisted inclusion of such language.
[Fortescue, p. 712]
Terms
Under the terms of the treaty, Mysore ceded about one-half of its territories to the other signatories. The Peshwa acquired territory up to the
Tungabhadra River, the Nizam was awarded land from the
Krishna to the
Penner River, and the forts of
Cuddapah
Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popul ...
and
Gandikota
Gandikota is a village and historical fort on the right bank of the Penna river, 15 km from Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The fort was the centre of power for various dynasties, such as the Kalyani Chalukyas, P ...
on the south bank of the Penner. The East India Company received a large portion of Mysore's
Malabar Coast territories between the
Kingdom of Travancore and the
Kali River, and the Baramahal and
Dindigul districts.
[ Mysore granted the ]rajah
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in history of South Asia, South Asia and History of ...
of Coorg
Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State.
It occupies ...
his independence,[Dodworth, p. 337] although Coorg effectively became a company dependency.
Tipu Sultan, unable to pay an indemnity of 330 lakhs of rupees, was required to surrender two of his three sons as hostages of war.
Notes
References
* Dodwell, H. H
''The Cambridge History of India: British India, 1497–1858''
* Fortescue, Sir John William
''A history of the British army'', Volume 4, Part 2
* Dirom, Alexander
''A narrative of the campaign in India which terminated the war with Tippoo Sultan, in 1792: with maps and plans illustrative for the subject, and a view of Seringapatam''
(contains English text of treaty)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seringapatam 1792
Peace treaties of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Peace treaties of India
1792 treaties
History of Kerala
Treaty of Seringapatam 1792
Treaties of the Kingdom of Mysore
Treaties of the Maratha Empire
Mysorean invasion of Malabar
Treaties of the British East India Company
1792 in India
1792 in Great Britain
1792 in the Maratha Empire
Third Anglo-Mysore War